A foot-warming Christmas tale

If you see someone sleeping under a bridge with a nice new pair of boots and warm socks, it’s probably the work of Denver Post reporter Mike McPhee.

The Post recently ran an ad from the Arvada Army Surplus store, advertising winter boots for $12.99 and socks for 99 cents.

McPhee saw this deal and instantly decided, what the heck, let’s buy some boots and socks for the homeless this year.

He put out a missive on the Post’s Intranet asking his colleagues for $15 donations.

“The boots aren’t that bad,” he wrote. “From covering the homeless, I’ve learned the worst problem they have during the winter is their feet — keeping them dry, then warm. So I propose each of us donate $15 toward a pair of socks and boots for the homeless in time for Christmas.”

McPhee raised $1,500 in three days and purchased 100 pairs of waterproof boots and sox just in time for the nasty winter weather.

He’s since been distributing the boots to street outreach workers who deal with the worst cases of homelessness.

This is the kind of generosity that never occurs to me. Some of the people I write about have $800 shoes that are rarely, if ever, exposed to the elements.

And these are tough times in the newspaper business, with buyouts, layoffs, and mass defections to more certain, though less fulfilling PR jobs. Many of us here at the Post worry about getting the boot, but McPhee, he’s focussed on giving it.